Binayak Sen

Binayak Sen (Hindi: बिनायक सेन, Bengali: বিনায়ক সেন) is a paediatrician, and public health specialist. He is the national Vice-President of the People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL). He is the recipient of several awards including the Jonathan Mann Award, the Gwangju Prize for Human Rights, and the Gandhi International Peace Award.

Binayak Sen originally started working as a paediatrician extending health care to poor people in the rural-tribal areas of the Chhattisgarh state, doubling up as a human rights activist. While Sen has worked with the state government on health sector reform he has also strongly criticised the government on human rights violations during the anti-Naxalite operations, while advocating non-violent political engagement.

In May 2007, he was detained for allegedly supporting the outlawed Naxalites which would violate the provisions of the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act 2005 (CSPSA) and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967. Sen first applied for bail before the Raipur Sessions Court and then the Chhattisgarh High Court in July 2007, soon after his arrest. Sen spent over two years in jail on charges of acting as a courier between Naxal leader Sanyal and businessman Piyush Guha. He was also accused of having associations with the CPI (Maoist), a group linked to the Naxal movement. but was granted bail by the Supreme Court of India on 25 May 2009.

In 2010, he was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment by Raipur Sessions Court, Chhattisgarh, for sedition and helping Naxalites to set up a network to fight the State. He was granted bail on 15 April 2011 by the Supreme Court of India which gave no reason for the order. Sen has filed an appeal before the Chhattisgarh High Court and the case is pending.

Binayak Sen and his wife Ilina Sen played key roles in the foundation of the Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha's Shaheed Hospital which is owned and operated by a workers' organisation. He is also an advisor to Jan Swasthya Sahyog, a health care organisation. He has also been published in the prestigious British medical journal The Lancet (in its edition of 12 February 2011) where he talks about the severe inaccessibility of the healthcare to the poor in India. The article was hailed as reaffirmation of support to Dr Sen by the international community by Ilina Sen.

Sen is the National Vice-President of the People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) and General Secretary of its Chhattisgarh unit. In this capacity, he helped organise numerous investigations into alleged human rights violations carried out during anti-Naxalite operations. The alleged violations included the murder of unarmed and innocent civilians by the anti-Naxalite movement Salwa Judum.

In a 2008 interview, Sen stated that he does not condone the Naxalites, does not approve of their violent methods, and has spoken strongly against them several times. But, he also expressed his opposition to the violent activities carried out by Salwa Judum, which he believes, have created a split in the tribal community. Sen advocates peaceful methods such as negotiations to solve the Naxalite problem.

Sen was the recipient in 2004 of the Paul Harrison award for a lifetime of service to the rural poor. This award is given annually by the Christian Medical College in Vellore, India to its alumni.